FERRIDAY &045; The thinking at Thursday’s meeting of some local leaders was simple.

Evacuees need jobs. Some local businesses may need workers &045; now or in the near future &045;and there should to be a way to get these two groups together.

So Concordia Parish will host a job fair for evacuees from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 19 at the old seventh-grade school in Ferriday on Florida Avenue.

Evacuees looking for work are invited to come by to meet with prospective employers from Concordia, Tensas and Catahoula Parishes and Adams County.

Carl Marks, workforce coordinator for the Area 60 Workforce Investment Board planned the event Thursday with representatives from a number of Concordia Parish organizations, including the Ferriday Chamber of Commerce and the LaSalle Community Action Agency.

&uot;We’re asking employers who have or will have opportunities to come be here,&uot; Marks said.

The fair will be similar to ones Marks’ office has put together for this week for Marksville, La., and Jena, La. to help evacuees at least get temporary work while they are displaced from their homes.

Marks said some area businesses have actually had a need to expand since Hurricane Katrina hit in order to provide adequate service to evacuees who have flooded the area.

Migonne Ater, dean of Louisiana Technical College, said her school would also be at the fair to give evacuees information about educational and training opportunities available to them.